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20:00 Another year older…
» Me, Life & Everything time: 0400hrs length: short mood: pensive stars: plenty at: home level: ten track: toxicity - system of a down, toxicity. It is my birthday today! For some reason i cant get this song out of my head! See video… Its so bloody brilliant. System Of A Down - Toxicity Just got back from my pre-birthday party. Thanks to the…ahem..ladies…who turned out in vast numbers. DJ Mr Zoom, [...]
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13:06
Provoked to murder
» Kenya Imagine Annette Keino just watched Provoked, a movie based on a real story where a young woman kills her abusive husband. Sadly, Kiranjit Ahluwalia is not unique, there are hundreds, nay thousands of women who are abused each day. Follow the narration and discussion that follows here.
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11:55
Warren Buffett
» Kenyanentrepreneur.com I haven’t put a video up in a while and I figured it was time. It’s always interesting to listen to what a Billionaire has to say — so have your fill!
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10:50
Ugandan newspapers
» Mentalacrobatics Don’t you sometimes wish that our Kenyan newspapers were as good, insightful, thought provoking and well researched as Ugandan newspapers?
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10:28
Random travel post
» Afromusing This was my first time flying with Air-France, i typically do the KLM thing all the time, but Air France offered the best fare at the time when i was looking for tix.Good thing you can still earn miles since they have a partnership agreement and are part of the ’star alliance’ with KLM. The plane from Newark to Paris was a new looking Airbus A330. The interior was a snazzy looking navy blue with off white, there was a faint hint of ‘new plane smell’. It had an interesting addition of a web cam; well, make that a ‘nose cam’ where the images of what is going on in front of the plane is displayed on the screen in front of the seat.Nothing particularly interesting happened before we took off, just airport staff walking into a side entrance. I wished one of them would stop and do a little dance just to liven things up, perhaps something like Hugh Grant’s moves from the movie Love Actually? Flying these days is just drudgery.
We left Newark at about 19:10 so it was still sunny out. After take off the ‘nose cam’ pans to the bottom of the plane giving you a view of the land below. The pilot seemed Jazzed about this and pointed out Central Park NY when we flew over it. I wasn’t impressed. The nose cam is cool though. Aerial view of central park…not so much. During the trip, the plane sounded abit noisier than the KLM flights i had taken before, a little crickety during turbulence, its a good thing disposable ear plugs are provided, or perhaps its because of where i was sitting, just behind the left wing.
Food - med
Lint from little blanket on black sweatshirt - Very High
Courtesy of staff - med
Overall experience thus far - so, so.
I will skip the whole thing about Air France being able to check baggage all the way to Nairobi, but not able to give me all the boarding passes, especially the boarding pass for flight from CDG to Nai. The agreements between airlines appear to favor baggage but not people?!!! I am just used to having all my boarding passes before i leave. Oh well, maybe its because my ticket was ‘cheap’
Paris wifi which they pronounce weee feee (?!!) cost $16 for an hour…I really should write my posts without being connected to the net. A few habits that i have to shed very very quickly.
The folks in Nai, see you at the geek dinner . Other readers, please check back starting June 3rd for posts from TED Global ‘Africa The Next Chapter’ - Arusha.
**Disclaimer - During the coming week, if I drop too many exclamation marks from over excitement, please oh please forgive me! (see see i started already)
My next flight is on KENYA AIRWAYS! I hope they have the KCC butter with the meal, or is that only on flights from .KE?
Other random items from Wired mag from this month…wired.com and just search for the stories, had to do this post without looking up the links. Fuel costs $4.20 in Nairobi, $4.17 in Mumbai and woudl you believe that in New Jersey its $2.99? How now?! Does the ‘Arm pit of the US’ have oil refineries nearby or an invisible pipeline to oil deposits on the moon?
(NJ is actually pretty ok, i was just told that it was the arm pit of the US the other day, laughed my head off. Would that make california the tanned and buff abs of the US?) moving along… Cows emit more methane gas by burping than by farting.What with all the 4 stomachs, who can name them? (No googling?!)Currently reading ‘The best Technology writing 2006′ compiled by Brandon Koerner. (Link is on my sidebar) - Very cool book. What i could garner from it so far…to be a good tech writer, you need a narrative and some banging metaphors.
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9:58
IRB Sevens, London - A Mocha! Special
» My Life is...Mochalicious! “The weather at Twickenham failed to dampen spirits, particularly among the Kenyan supporters who arrived en masse.“ - Photo captions from the IRB Sevens website. You had to be there to experience the atmosphere of the tournament. Twickenham rocked. The supporters/supporting was electric and the air full of warm spirits despite the horrible weather. Day one, Kenya faced [...]
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6:40
E-learning experts in town
» REBECCA WANJIKU'S BLOG For the last two days, Safari Park hotel has been abuzz with techies, governments and e-learning advocates comparing notes.
It’s the second e-learning Africa conference and from the choice of the venue, it’s not a place for ordinary men and women to just walk in and participate in sessions, or exhibitions.
Oops! Did I forget to say that you need about sh 22,000 to get in? Yes, it is the participation fee.
How many people can afford the fee? Who are the people who need to know much about e-learning opportunities and appreciate the technology out there?
From the ambience, this is not a place for the poor chaps with bad breath and brown teeth. If anything, they may just as well suggest that the fee is better off in their pockets than with conference organizers.
For instance, the press room has no computers because it is assumed that the local journalists and bloggers would use their laptops, and take advantage of the wireless hotspot.
Reuben Kyama, a local journalist, could only say “we are sending a message” when asked why there is no properly equipped press room or area for bloggers and journalists.
So, who are the “real winners” in this conference?
Ends
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6:25
Solar Kiln
» AfriGadget The Malindi Handicraft Association (MHA) is one of Kenya’s largest wood handicraft coops in Kenya. They are currently striving to meet fair trade certifications. Part of that certification involves utilizing sustainable woods such as Neem wood. One of the downsides to utilizing Neem is that if it is not dried properly it can cause the carvings to crack. To combat this problem they are utilizing a solar Kiln. Dark sheets located on the roof of the kiln trap solar energy heating up the inside of the Kiln. The Kiln has been outfitted with electric fans so that during the rainy seasons the carvers can still dry their carvings.
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5:44
KQ hits turbulence
» bankelele Down: Profits dipped slightly owing to increased competition, and the weakening US dollar. Kudos’ to the NSE for the timely release of company accounts (now if they could only offer .txt alternatives alongside the huge PDF files). Sooner or later a company is going to reach a limit - and either report flat (or declining) revenue or profits, but shareholders don’t take too kindly to the inevitable.
Pilot stabilizes: In the wake of the KQ 507 crash, the airline MD has released a statement on safety issues to quell murmurs that the airline operations were stretched in pursuit of profit. Another statement of reassurance from a former manager.
Up: The airline has been voted Africa's Leading Airline by readers of Travel News magazine. KQ also won for best regional, local airline, Msafiri magazine and frequent flier programme (with KLM). -
ARM to retire bonds
» bankelele Athi River Mining will convert 125 million shillings worth of corporate bonds into shares in the company as existing shareholders will be asked to approve the creation of 25 million new shares for this purpose.
The bonds were launched in October 2005. Of the 800m raised 600 was for completion of clinker plant in Kaloleni (near Mombasa) and 200 million was for repayment of bank debt.
Other corporate bonds include Faulu Kenya, PTA Bank and Mabati - with few new issues expected and little trading in them. Previous corporate bond giants - Safaricom and Celtel (who also retired their bonds early), opted to get bank financing the last time they needed expansion funds.
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3:00
The Day The Music Died
» tHiNkEr'S rOoM Once upon a time, variety in the radio sector was the choice between KBC English Service and KBC Kiswahili Service. KBC Kiswahili used to have an absurd chunk of its time devoted to death and funeral announcements, and back then my appreciation for Samba Mapangala Orchestre Virunga, Franco, Tabu Ley, Tshala ...
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2:54
Skunkworks Kenya
» White African I arrived in from South Africa in time to make it to the regular “Skunkworks” meeting in Nairobi, Kenya. This is where many of the brightest tech minds in Kenya get together to discuss ideas and pertinent issues within the Kenyan ICT sector.
Among those present were Riyaz Bachani and Josiah Mugambi, two of the BarCamp Kenya organizers. I also had the chance to meet Mugambi Kimathi, creator of Jahazi (covered earlier). Jean-Antoine Bord, behind Pajama Nation, was also present. So, it was fun to talk to some of these guys who are at the “center of the storm” of web development in Kenya.
The topic for last evening’s discussion was the creation of a Linux Professional’s Association of Kenya, the positioning of Linux within the public and private sectors, and discussions on how to educate people about the benefits of open source operating systems and software. After having a long discussion with Heather Ford, Director of iCommons, which is based in South Africa, I can’t help but think that there is so much that can be done between these two groups.At the end of the meeting, the consensus seemed to be that people in government, SME’s and even big business don’t really care about what the operating system is, so long as it works. If they can save money and run their business more profitably because of the decisions that their IT consultants make, then that’s a big extra. Having a local open source association that can provide success stories of companies and parastatals that have successfully implemented open source software will be a big help for further growth in this area.
Overall it was a great meeting that I really enjoyed sitting in on. The tech community in Nairobi was well represented and you can tell how passionate everyone is about creating a better tech sector in Kenya.
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1:16
:::The Nairobi Stock Exchange gets Wired:::
» RIBA CAPITAL 
Good Bye Trading Floor…
In 6 months or so, stock brokers will be trading from their offices and won’t have to visit the NSE trading floor in Nation Centre.
The NSE is currently setting up a Wide Area Network (WAN) platform that will connect all brokers to the main server at the NSE and coordinate and effect trading remotely.
During the trial runs, stock brokers will for a period be allowed to trade from both their offices and from the NSE’s trading floor, as currently each stock broker has a computer terminal at the NSE trading floor connected to the market’s main computer server.
The whole exercise will cost upwards of Kes: 30 Million, but, this is definitely money wisely spent.
Other plans up the sleeves of the NSE include setting up their own offices, some sort of financial centre, that will not only host the NSE but also broker’s offices. This is planned in the next few years.
Hot on the heels also is the merging of the Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania bourse which will precede the listing of the NSE to allow a wide and more independent ownership structure.
My hope is that with these developments we will cut the transaction time further to probably same day and allow day trading as is the trend with the more advanced nations, this will not only allow more participation but also open up the market to the more complex financial players globally.
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0:20
GAY’S SCIENTIFIC CONFERENCE!
» assidous The last such conference was held in South Africa sometimes early this month. When I put it in this blog that they shouldn’t think of going about their carnal pleasures in public but rather do it in the dark unless they are in South Africa, I never thought that I would revisit the issue this soon!
They held their conference in a Hotel in North Coast and they only came into public because the Mombasa’s Councilors were also holding one of their ‘retreats’ at the same venue. Definitely, they also caught the attention of the journalists who were covering the meet, hence the publicity. Thus, meeting had to be done behind closed doors due to security issues.
On this issue, this blogger isn’t homophobic neither is he a moral police! Last time I checked, it was against the homosexuality was against the law but also, that law is seldom applied!